August is another month dedicated to the Blessed Mother, specifically Her Immaculate Heart. Since I've been to both of the IHMs, I decided to start the other "Mary" churches, specifically, Assumption, its feast being this month and all (Note: Assumption is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year because it falls on a Monday...but some parishes are still celebrating it special...)
Assumption is a small, simple country church located right next to the Doe Run Lead Smelter. Because of lead abatement, many have left the area. It seemed like the church was backwards. In other churches, usually the bell tower/steeple is the entrance. At Assumption, it is the back.
Music was accompanied by a guitar.
Entrance: How Firm a Foundation
Offertory: Only a Shadow
Communion: The Cry of the Poor
Recessional: Blest Be the Lord
Mass started with a prayer from Blessed Pope John Paul II.
Apparently the pastor is not well, so Father from Sacred Heart/St. Pius X High School said Mass. He used a chalice veil and had a really nice classic chasuble. Father was really nice when I spoke to him after Mass :)
The homily was about where do you find God in your life. Do you find Him in the storm or in the quiet? Father started discussing the story before the First Reading about Elijah. Apparently, there was some Old Testament High Noon happening. Elijah is on the mountain, the same mountain Moses saw God, waiting for God. Elijah is expecting the burning bush, the storm or something equally impressive. God comes in the quiet whisper. We look for God in the unusual. He is there in the everyday, the ordinary. He abides with us. Do we seek out God in the ordinary or do we look for Him in Our Lady of the Pop Tart (BWAHAHA!!!!) God is in the boring. (Gee...He must be all over my life cause I'm boring). He is in the storms in our lives: the children, the finance etc. Our first instinct is that God has abandoned us. God is in the Sacraments and in the Church. God says to get a grip. At these times, we are tempted to leave, leave the Church. Hold on tight to Jesus to get through. The Church is not some dinky little fishing boat; it is a battleship (OORAH!), the battleship of salvation. Reach out and grasp Jesus' hand.
Father used Eucharistic Prayer III and there were bells.
Pictures:
Assumption
View From the Back Pew
Tabernacle
Baptismal Font
Station VIII
Links:
Information from Archdiocese
No comments:
Post a Comment